Just days after she became the first female artist to break 100 million monthly listeners on Spotify, Taylor Swift has reached another big milestone. A tweet from the streaming service revealed that Swift’s song “Cruel Summer” is the newest member of the so-called “billions club” — that is, “Cruel Summer” has reached 1 billion streams on the platform.
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Swift took to her Instagram Story to celebrate the massive achievement. “Summer just got a BILLION TIMES CRUELER,” she wrote. “Love you all so much for this.”
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“Cruel Summer,” a latter-day anthem and one of Swift’s definitive tracks of the past five years, first appeared on her 2019 album Lover. Co-written with her longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff and fellow savvy pop artist St. Vincent, “Cruel Summer” is known for its big chorus and memorable bridge, where Swift sings, “He looks up grinning like a devil!”
That line, and the frenetic way Swift delivers it, helped it gain a foothold on TikTok despite never officially being released as a single. It has prominent placement in her Eras Tour setlist — which means fans can soon expect to experience “Cruel Summer” up on the big screen when her Eras Tour concert film hits theaters on October 13. Naturally, ticket presales for the screenings have already reached record-breaking levels.
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The influence of “Cruel Summer” on modern pop music can’t be overstated. Swift fans who have become major recording artists themselves, like Olivia Rodrigo, have aimed for similar grandeur in their own pop hits, and Swift finally did release “Cruel Summer” as an official single in 2023.
Other songs in Spotify’s “billions club” include Swift’s own “Anti-Hero” (from Midnights in 2022), One Direction’s “Drag Me Down” (from 2015), Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” (from 1991), “How Deep Is Your Love” from Calvin Harris and Disciples (2015), Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” (from earlier in 2023), and nearly 500 more tracks. See that full playlist here.
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